Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Bream, a Brave Buc

If I was a more knowledgable fan, I would probably have already known that Sid Bream spent half of his twelve year career with the Pirates. Since I'm not, I had to find out by flipping through the good ol '91 Fleer binder.

Like many fans, when I think of Sid Bream, I think of "The Slide" that helped the Braves get to the World Series in 1992. He was a Brave then, so that's how I've always thought of him.

But here's the proof! He was a Pirate! In December of 1990, he signed with the Atlanta Braves, so he didn't play with the Pirates in 1991. I guess it is probably just me, but it seems strange to see Bream and his mustache in the black and yellow of the Bucs.

I wonder if he was a Pirates fan growing up, seeing how he was born in Pennsylvania and has it listed as his "home". Again, probably something that I could look up, but there's no time for that now.

Bream's time in Pittsburgh saw him play for some really up and down teams. The '85 team that he landed on after being traded from LA wound up losing 104 games, and they went on to lose 98 the following year. However, of his six years there, they had above a .500 win percentage twice, both resulting in first round losses.

As you may have heard, the Pirates finally broke the streak of losing more games than they won each season. I am very happy for them, and I'm sure that Sid Bream is as well.

Anyways, to satisfy those who are still weirded out by seeing Bream as a Buc, here is his card from the Update set...

Seems to be a little more settling, doesn't it?

I wonder how it must've stung for the Pirates to get beaten by one of their own on such a big stage? It still irks me when Adrian Gonzalez faces the Padres, but he's never faced them in any games of "real" consequence, much less the playoffs.

Best of luck to the Pirates this year, as they are the official National League playoff team of Yellow Cardboard. It is policy for YC to support any and all teams wearing yellow, so here's hoping for an Oakland/Pittsburgh World Series. You know, once the Padres leave town and stop knocking the Pirates out of the race.

About Me

I'm a Padres fan that moved from San Diego to Texas. Grew up in the 90's, and can't stop rooting for my Friars, even living 1,301 miles from Petco Park. I teach 1st grade, and my wife and three kids are super rad.

'91 Fleer

A great yellow bordered set, or the greatest yellow bordered set? With a design so beautiful that no company ever dared to duplicate it, 1991 Fleer stands as one of the most recognizable card designs in the history of the world. Why would you ever want any baseball cards besides these?